Twisted Hate is a romantic fiction story with dozens of twists and turns. It is the third book in the Twisted series but you can also read it as a standalone. This novel kept me on my toes till the end. I kept making guesses and was secretly wishing for Jules and Josh to be together after countless fights and misunderstandings. Every time after a fight, it seemed like they would not see each other ever again. But you get yourself proved wrong.
I love stories that have unexpected turns and “Twisted Hate” was one of them. The title perfectly matches the story of the novel. Well, done, Ana! Pat on your back! It is suitable for readers above the age of 18 years because it has some explicit scenes that are inappropriate for young readers.
Characters:
The total number of characters in the Twisted Hate book are around 17 to 20. These are the major and minor characters who have played a vital role in the story. The main characters who played a vast role in the story are the following:
Jules Ambrose: She is the main character of the story and is a law student who also does a part-time job in a hospital.
Josh Chen: He is a handsome and charming guy and a third-year resident specializing in emergency medicine.
Max: He is an EX-Boyfriend of Jules Ambrose.
Bridge: Jules’ friend who is married to Rhys Larson.
Rhys Larson: He is Bridget’s husband, who was a bodyguard but not for long.
Plot/Summary:
In her childhood, Jules Ambrose lived with her mother Adeline who was breathtakingly gorgeous and everyone would praise her for being so pretty. Jewel was so beautiful as well as she got her mother’s beauty in inheritance and her mother Adeline would not praise her daughter but rather thought of her as her competition. Do you think a child deserves jealousy from her mother?
Jules’ mother was conscious about how she looked and what she wore, she would spend all the money to buy beauty products, fancy apparel, and jewelry items rather than spending them on necessities. As Jukes grew up, she realized her mother would not provide for her basic needs even and that she would have to do something on her own to make both ends meet.
Adeline married a rich name Alastair and she and Jules started living with him. Alastair is mesmerized by Jules’ beauty and tries to get closer to her. Adeline caught him and he put it on Jules that she was the one who was trying to hit on him. Adeline got angry and kicked Jules out of her house. The people on the street accused Jules was kicked out probably because she did drugs or got pregnant.
After getting thrown out of the house, Jules met Max who was a notorious man and stole things. Max and Jules started dating and they did crimes together. They made a plan and Jules went to steal money from Alastair’s home. Max got caught and he went to jail for 7 years.
Jules left Ohio and went to get settled in another town. She was uncomfortable with how her mother was insecure about her and how her boyfriend Max only loved her for her body. Jules had a curvy body and everyone would admire her for her beauty rather than who she was as a person. Jules loved to party and Josh had an assumption that Jules was of no good. Jules becomes friends with Josh’s sister and both of them hate each other when they first meet.
One day Jules heard Josh asking Ava to break his friendship with Jules because she is a party girl and has a bad reputation in Ohio after he heard those dirty rumors about her. People either assumed bad things about Jules or looked at her as a beauty icon and nothing more than that. Her character as a protective and caring person who would go the extra mile to protect her friends and her dedication to her dreams were ignored. She was all set to take bar exams and become a lawyer. Do you know what that combination is called? BEAUTY AND BRAIN.
Jules became an advocate of justice and helped families who were suffering in unjust cases. She started working in a hospital with Josh who is a doctor there. Josh liked thrill and adventure in life. Josh came to greet the new girl in his hospital but found out this was his enemy Jules. A witty banter continued between them again. One day Josh brought a cinnamon cupcake for Jules as he noticed she ordered them frequently. Jules asked jokingly if Jules had poisoned it for her.
| Publisher | Bloom |
| Published Date | First published January 27, 2022 |
| Language | English |
| Pages | 551 |
| Literary awards | Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Romance (2022) |
| Series | Twisted #3 |
| Characters | Josh Chen, Jules Ambrose |
| ISBN-10 | 1728274885 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1728274881 |
Josh and Jules went on a ski trip with their friends Ava and Alex. Josh taught her how to ski with so much patience. At this point, after the ski trip, the hate between them faded and now, they didn’t fiercely hate each other like they did previously. They started spending more time together and the spicy banter between them continued as they would fight and argue in a friendly way. Later both of them told why they hated each other and apologized for that.
“I don’t know when I stopped hating Jules and started craving her.”
Jules got the news that her mother passed away in a car accident. Despite getting mistreated, Jules went to Ohio for her funeral and Josh accompanied her. He supported Jules in this tough time. She showed Josh all the places in Ohio where she had spent time during her childhood. When Josh went to Ohio, he went to meet his father who was in prison. He went there and let all his anger out telling him that he knew he tried to kill his sister. He left and said he would never see him again.
Josh and Jules were now in a cute relationship where they cared for each other but unfortunately, Max came out of the prison to haunt Jules. He started blackmailing her with a personal video he had of Jules. Max asked her to steal a painting from Josh’s apartment or else he would release that video in public. Jules stole the painting and lied to Josh about the painting getting robbed. Jules went to Christian who has a security business to help her with deleting that private video from Max’s device. Josh got to know that Jules lied to her about the painting so he said some hateful things to her which hurt her.
“If you’d asked for the painting, I would’ve given it to you.’ My voice cracked. ‘I would’ve given you anything you wanted.’”
As time passed by, things started getting better between Jules and Josh. Finally, they confessed their feelings and said those three magical words to each other “I L Y”. Alex asked Josh if he wanted to marry her sister Ava to which he agreed. Jules and Josh went on a trip to New Zealand where they had the time of their lives.
- The storyline was interesting and readers can get restless to know the ending.
- There were few characters hence making the story easy to read and connect to.
- The book gives some powerful messages like helping others in their hour of need, not to deceive your closed ones, and chasing your dreams even though no one believes in you.
- The story was a bit dragged at the end where it was obvious that both the main characters no longer hate each other and have fallen for each other.
Review:
I simply want to add this book to my favorite reads so far. Absolutely G.R.E.A.T! No, I am not exaggerating it all. I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of this novel from the storyline to the characters to the beautiful happy ending. I absolutely adored the banter between Jules and Josh like how they would fight over trivial things like small children on which movie to watch. It felt good to read that Jules and Josh found each other and lived happily after having miserable childhoods where Jules faced jealousy from her mother and Josh’s father tried to take her sister’s life.
It was literally a sob sob moment when Josh discovered Jules telling a lie about the robbery and stealing his painting. It felt like they would never be together again. My heart was sinking but I was finally at peace when they ended up together.
Other books in the “Twisted” series by Ana Huang:
The other three parts of the Twisted series are :
- Twisted Love(2021)
- Twisted Games (2021)
- Twisted Lies (2023)
Conclusion:
“Twisted Hate” as the name suggests is all about the twists that come in between Jules’ and Josh’s hate for each other. Initially, they could not stand each other. Josh even asked his sister Ava to end his friendship with Jules. Jules had a tough time in her childhood when she faced hatred and jealousy from her mother but she turned out to be the strong woman she grew up. She chose to be a lawyer and became an advocate for justice.
Josh was a doctor by profession and as Jules joined his hospital for a job, the two of them started getting closer as they spent time together.
But none of them confessed their feelings because they were unsure how could they like each other when the only thing they were sure about was that they hated each other. As time passed by, Jules’ mother passed away and Josh gave her sympathies. Both of them got closer and got into a relationship. There came turns in their relationship now and then where they did not want to see each other. But at last, they take a trip to New Zealand together where they enjoy like anything, forgetting all the worries of their pasts.
I would rate it 4.8 stars as every page was addictive and worth reading!